The Faithful Prophet

In the 1940s, a young missionary named Jim Elliot ventured into the Ecuadorian jungles with a burning desire to share the gospel with the Rurani tribe. At just 28 years old, his life ended abruptly when he and his companions were speared to death upon first contact with the tribe they hoped to reach. His wife Elizabeth would later publish his now-famous words from his diary: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Was Elliot's death a waste? A cynic might think so. But his words reveal a profound truth about the nature of faithful service to God—a truth embodied centuries earlier by another prophet whose life ended tragically young: John the Baptist.

A Prophet Born in Promise
John the Baptist entered the world wrapped in miraculous circumstances. His elderly, barren parents received a visit from the angel Gabriel, who announced that their son would be "great before the Lord" and would "go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah." The promise was overflowing with hope: joy, gladness, rejoicing, and the preparation of God's people for the coming Messiah.

As John grew, he fulfilled this calling magnificently. He preached repentance in the wilderness, baptized multitudes in the Jordan River, and even baptized Jesus himself at the inauguration of his earthly ministry. Jesus would later say of John, "Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist."
Yet within a year or two of beginning his prophetic ministry, John found himself chained in Herod's dungeon. For a prophet promised greatness, imprisonment seems like a strange fulfillment of divine purpose.

The Price of Speaking Truth
John's imprisonment came because he refused to compromise the truth. King Herod Antipas had taken his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, as his own. John confronted them directly: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." This wasn't merely a comment on their lifestyle choices or a personal moral opinion. John was declaring something far more fundamental: You don't get to make the laws.

Herodias wanted John dead immediately. A silenced prophet couldn't continue reminding them of their sin. But Herod was intrigued by John, recognizing him as righteous and holy. So he kept John imprisoned—a compromise that protected John from Herodias's murderous intent while keeping the bothersome prophet locked away.

The text tells us something fascinating: Herod was "greatly perplexed" by John, yet "heard him gladly." Why the perplexity? Perhaps because John spoke so passionately about an all-powerful God and his Messiah who was performing miracles, yet here sat John himself, still captive in Herod's dungeon. If everything John said was true, why hadn't God delivered his prophet?

This remains a common objection to Christianity today: If God is real and good and powerful, why doesn't he fix everything now? Why the suffering, the pain, the injustice? But like John told Herod, we don't make the laws. We don't dictate to the eternal God when and how he will fulfill his promises. His kingdom has begun, and he will bring it to completion in his own wise timing.

Pride's Deadly Trap
Herod's precarious balance between keeping his unlawful wife and keeping John alive couldn't last. At his birthday banquet—itself a display of Roman pride unusual for a Jewish ruler—Herodias's daughter danced and pleased Herod. In his grandiosity, he promised her anything she wanted, "up to half my kingdom."

The girl consulted her mother. Herodias saw her opportunity: "The head of John the Baptist."

Herod was trapped. He feared John, but he feared public humiliation more. His love for himself overwhelmed whatever reverence he had for God. And so the order went out, and John the Baptist was beheaded in prison. His head was brought on a platter to the girl, who gave it to her mother.

The hymn captures it perfectly: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, slowly but wholly taking control. Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay. Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay."

The prophet born in such miraculous promise, who prepared the way for the Messiah, was dead after perhaps two years of ministry. His disciples came and laid his body in a tomb.

Going Before Jesus One Last Time
John's death was not the end of the story. In his death, as in his life, John went before Jesus. He died at the hands of an unrighteous leader who knew he was innocent, pressured by people demanding his death, and was laid in a tomb. Soon, Jesus would stand before Pilate, crowds would demand his crucifixion, and he too would be laid in a tomb.

When news of Jesus' miraculous ministry reached Herod, he trembled with fear. "John whom I beheaded has been raised," he said. Herod wasn't entirely wrong to connect resurrection with eternal, reality-shaping implications. If John had been raised, then what John said about God and his Messiah might be true—and that was a far bigger problem than just a prophet coming back to life.

Later, Jesus himself would stand before Herod. Luke's gospel tells us Herod was glad to see him, hoping to witness a miracle. But Jesus remained silent. Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus, dressed him in splendid clothing, and sent him back to Pilate. In Herod's heart, perhaps he thought: "I am the most powerful. I do make the laws. John is dead, and soon his Messiah will be too."

Jesus was crucified. His body was taken down and laid in a tomb. Herod and Pilate likely slept easy that night.

The Most Hopeful, Most Terrifying Phrase
Three days later, women went to Jesus' tomb to anoint his body. An angel met them with words that are simultaneously the most hopeful and most terrifying in Scripture: "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here."
Everything hinges on those words: He has risen.

If you trust in Christ and his promises, this is the best news imaginable. But if you're clinging to the idea that you're in charge, that you determine right and wrong, that you sit on the throne of your own life, the resurrection of Jesus should send you to your knees in fear.
Peter proclaimed it clearly: "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it... Therefore repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."

Jesus did not abandon John the Baptist. John had God's promises, Jesus' words, and the hope of future resurrection. The Lord numbered John's days and gave him strength for each one. Then God called him home to rest.

Was John's life wasted? Was Jim Elliot's? The answer is a resounding no. They understood a fundamental truth: you cannot keep your life anyway. It's far better to give it in service of the King and, upon death, have your soul made perfectly holy and immediately pass into glory than to spend your whole life merely trying to live a little longer.

The gospel message remains unchanged: we are all sinners who fall short of God's glory and deserve punishment. But Jesus died on the cross, bearing our sin and God's wrath. He rose from the dead, proving he had finished paying our debt. If we trust in him, he forgives our sins, clothes us in his righteousness, and promises to raise our bodies as his was raised—to live with God forever.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. John the Baptist understood this. Jim Elliot understood this. The question is: do we?